Slightly Irregular (16 page)

He offered a weak smile. “You have a few things to work out before we take this to the next level.”

“What things?”

“You’re a smart lady. You’ll figure it out.”

There are good touches and bad touches. It just depends on whom you’re dating.

When my alarm went
off, the first thing I did was touch my lips. After Liam’s searing kiss, I half expected to be lipless. I wasn’t, but I was spineless. I banged my head into my pillow. “What the hell was I thinking?” I grumbled to myself. Memories of last night came back like a boulder racing downhill, with me standing at the bottom of the hill.

As I tossed off the comforter, I felt myself blush all over again. Going into the bathroom, I stared at my reflection. Like Macaulay Culkin, I placed my palms against my cheeks. I rubbed vigorously. “You practically begged.”
Loser
.

It was hard to look at myself, so I went to the kitchen to turn on the coffee. My secret hope that last night had been a dream or hallucination was dashed when I saw the half-full bottle of beer and the empty cocktail glass. Oh yes, it was real. “And amazing,” I said as I turned and leaned in backward. I
leaned so that my hands and the small of my back were against the counter and I watched the pot brew.

I grabbed up my cell phone and sent three urgent text messages that all said the same thing:

Did more than just talk to Liam Lunch @ Saito’s. 911

I dressed for work, mindful of my dinner with Izzy. I needed shoes that could go all day and all night. That meant only one thing—wedges.

My solution was a Donna Ricco peplum dress, purchased at a deep discount because of a tear at the peplum. I paired it with my Michael Kors Cassie wedges and switched handbags to my Coach hobo bag; the black leather worked perfectly, and if I held it correctly, no one would know about the small imperfection at the side seam. Dressing on a budget is really taxing. I miss the days when I could just walk into a store and buy
whatever
without counting pennies.

Before I went to work, I hopped on to my laptop and called up my eBay listing. I was surprised that the bidding on the pins had already neared their appraised value. The bracelet was doing okay, but the earrings had yet to get a nibble. Ah, well, I could always relist them if they don’t sell. Or I could just keep them. The tiny crowns were kinda cute. I held back on the platinum pin, still concerned that Ellen would realize her mistake and want it back. Just to assuage my conscience, I sent her an e-mail reaffirming that she wanted me to have all the pieces. I avoided mentioning the appraisal from Barton’s.

The morning flew by
, mainly because I'd spent much of my time researching the potential problems with the Bollans living on Egghardt land without a lease or other type of agreement. I couldn't imagine having eight kids, let alone raising them in such a tight place.

Having said that, Lenora Egghardt would never want for anything ever again if she could turn the land into an equestrian center. I still hadn’t heard from the Bollans. Without any type of written agreement, Ellen would have to advise the client to evict the tenants.

As prearranged, Becky left the office five minutes before me so no one at the office would know how close we were. I caught up with her at the base of the MuviCo steps.

“Well?” she pressed.

“Wait till everyone is here so I don’t have to keep repeating myself.”

“C’mon, do you have any idea how hard it was for me
not
to go to your office for a preview?”

“And I appreciate that. There’s Jane and Liv now,” I said, pointing toward the cigar shop. Once we were all assembled, we went up to the second floor, all the while complimenting one another’s clothing and/or accessories.

We came to Saito’s often enough that the kimono-clad hostess greeted us with a warm smile. “Follow me, Miss Garrett,” she said to Liv.

“Don’t you just feel invisible?” Jane whispered in my ear.

I nodded. Even women got a girl crush when Liv was in the vicinity.

The hostess showed us to a quiet corner of the restaurant. I wondered if she could sense I was in crisis mode. Once the waiter had taken our orders, Liv leaned in and asked, “How’s your head?”

My fingers reflexively went to the small scab at my hairline. “Don’t even need a Band-Aid.”

“Great. Now spill. You had sex?” Liv pressed.

“You had
great
sex?” Jane asked.

Becky sighed. “You had crappy sex?”

“I had no sex.” My three friends looked as if I’d just told them they had to donate all their clothes to the homeless.

“So why the urgent text?” Becky asked as she took her cell out and placed it next to her chopsticks.

“I tried to have sex.”

“Oh, honey,” Liv breathed. “Are you telling us that Little Liam couldn’t rise to the occasion?”

“Seriously?” Becky asked as she leaned forward. “The general wouldn’t stand at attention?” Humor danced in her eyes.

Liv and Jane chuckled.

“Glad my life crisis is fodder for your amusement.”

Jane patted my hand. “We’re sorry. It’s just that, well … we’re talking Liam here. He’s the last guy any of us would think couldn’t … close the deal.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. There was no deal.”

“You lost me,” Becky said, leaning back in her seat while she absently played with her amber pendant so the waiter could serve our uninteresting round of iced tea.

I waited for the staff to place steaming bowls of miso soup in front of each of us, then said, “He came to my place to give me a present and—”

“What did he get you?” Jane asked, her spoon hovering above her soup.

“A box of Lucky Charms.”

“That’s really sweet.”

“Can we get past the cereal?” Becky asked.

“So I open the present. I gave him grief for setting me up as Tony’s babysitter. Then the next thing I know, we’re kissing.”

“Polite good night?” Liv asked. “Or rock my world?”

“Rock my
universe
,” I answered on an expelled breath. Even now, just thinking about it made heat pool in the pit of my stomach. “And then it happened.”

“What was
it
?” Becky demanded her tone short.

Becky was never one for protracted storytelling, but I just shot her an I’m-telling-this look.

“We’re hot. We’re heavy. We’re pressed together, and my legs were turning to mush.”

“I need to call my garage-boy squeeze for a hookup,” Liv said under her breath.

I wasn’t into discussing the fact that Liv had a boy-toy who lived above his parents’ garage. “Anyway,” I paused when the waiter came over to ask me if everything was all right. “I’ve just been talking,” I assured him. Then out of politeness, I put a spoonful of soup in my mouth.

“You’re kissing …?” Jane prompted.

“Oh my God, the man has magic lips. And a body—”

“You went skin to skin?” Becky asked?

“I went skin. I slipped my hands under his shirt. Molded, hard muscle.”

“What was he doing?” Becky asked.

“Just holding me. Other than that, nothing. Absolutely nothing,” I said, presenting my hands, then letting them slap back down on the tabletop. “No touchy feely. He didn’t touch a thing but my hair, and that was only so he could move it out of the way. He nuzzled my earlobes and then traced a line of kisses down my throat.”

“This is better than a sexy romance novel,” Jane insisted. “Keep going.”

“Glad I’m entertaining all of you. So all I can think about is getting him into the bedroom. He’s nibbling my ear and his breath is heating my skin, and so I said, ‘Stay the night,’ and boom. Done. Over. Finished.”

Jane looked horrified. “He did not!”

“He did. And then he set me off to one side and said some bullshit about how sleeping with me was one of his three wishes.”

“Three wishes?” Liv asked.

“Remember that horrible time on the yacht a few months ago? Well, afterward I kinda promised him three wishes for saving my life. Mr. Opportunistic is gonna hold me to it. I meant it as a joke!”

“Guess the joke was on you,” Becky grunted.

We stopped talking as the waiter cleared our soups and set a platter of freshly made sushi in the center of the table. He dealt each of us a plate and told us to enjoy.

“I’ll never enjoy anything ever again,” I mumbled after he left.

“The three-wishes thing was all the explanation you got?” Becky asked.

“I think he said something about me having to work through something. Only I don’t have a clue what he meant. But apparently actually sleeping with me is moving too fast for him.”

“Too fast!” Jane dropped her sushi. “You’ve known him a year.”

“And this isn’t the 1950s,” Jane added. “God, that would be rich. A prudish guy.”

“A
hot
, prudish guy,” Becky corrected. “So how did it end?”

“Well, you’d think I’d know that no means no, but you’d be wrong. I reached out, took his hand, and said, ‘Please.’ Do you believe it? I actually begged.”

Liv said, “I don’t think that’s begging. Begging would be, ‘Please, please, please!’”

I shot her a look. “I did everything short of grabbing onto his pant leg so he couldn’t leave.” I rested my head in my hands. “He must think I’m totally desperate.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t,” Becky said.

“Then you tell me why he put the brakes on. Correction. He didn’t just put the brakes on, he threw the car in reverse.”

“Maybe he had on torn underwear,” Liv suggested.

Becky added, “Or maybe he’d already had sex last night and isn’t the kind of guy who does a twofer.”

“That’s gross,” Jane said.

“So now the question is, what do I do from here?”

“Go sleep with his best friend?” Jane suggested.

“Pretend it never happened,” Liv offered.

“Pretend you don’t give a shit that it happened. His loss.” Becky said with authority. “In fact, turn the tables on him.
Get him all hot and bothered, and next time you slam on the brakes. Send him on his way with the mother of all erections.”

My day was almost
over. Or rather my
work
day. I still had dinner with Izzy, but I didn’t think of that as work. At four thirty, Tony knocked on my open door. “Got a minute?”

“Sure,” I pointed to the two empty chairs opposite my desk. Of course I had time, I’d spent the last hour surfing the Internet and/or logged on to eBay.

“Izzy is very fond of you,” he said after he took a seat.

“I like her,” I said, tension knotting my shoulders. Tony’s demeanor was different, and I wasn’t sure why. And he’d closed the door behind him. Very out of character. I could only pray it wasn’t because Liam told him I’d invited him to spend the night.

Tony nervously rubbed his palms together, then smiled and let out a kind of short half laugh. “This is a little awkward. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in you.”

I wasn’t sure if I should thank him or admit that I, too, was curious, so I remained mute.

“Um, I don’t know what went on Saturday night, but Izzy really looks up to you. She hasn’t bonded with anyone since we moved from New York.